HOW TO Tell if a pawpaw is Male or Female

Male 

Papaya trees with only male flowers are considered male and will not produce fruit. You can identify male flowers by their shape, color and location. Male flowers will look like elongated bells on trumpets. Each male flower will have 10 filaments supporting anthers. These look like long threads topped with fuzzy anthers. 

Male papayas produce many flowers on long stalks.

The buds are thin and shaped like a stretched-out spoon. Occasionally – just to be confusing – a male tree can produce a hermaphrodite flower and fruit at the end of the long stalk. This seems to happen during unusual weather conditions.

Female 

Papaya trees with only female flowers are female trees. Female flowers produce papaya fruit after they are pollinated. Female flowers may be white or yellow. 

Female papaya flower. 

They are large in size but short. The ovary should be visible at the base of the flower, giving the flower a stocky appearance. The stamens are very apparent in the middle of the flower, but there are no filaments or anthers.

Trees With Both Male and Female 

Some papaya trees have both male and female flowers. These do not require a second tree for pollination, because the male flowers on the tree can pollinate the female flowers on the same tree. 

Hermaphrodite papaya 

The likelihood that your papaya tree will have both male and female flowers on it depends on the variety. For instance, "Solo" papaya has a 66 percent chance of producing both male and female flowers, according to the California Rare Fruit Growers.

Perfect Flowers

Perfect flowers are found on bisexual or hermaphroditic papaya trees. These flowers contain both male and female parts on the same flower. They have a wide, stocky base and are found growing directly from the bases of the leaves, like female flowers, but they produce stamen like male flowers. Trees with these types of flowers do not require a second tree for pollination.